The eruption of Senator John McCain at fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn (TX) is an incident that reverberates on several levels. It renews lingering doubts about whether Senator McCain possesses the proper temperament to be president. It also raises serious questions about the substance of the "grand bargain" immigration bill that Senators Kennedy, Specter, McCain and others are attempting to rush through the Senate. (The written bill language was finally distributed to Senate offices early Saturday morning, 326 pages, still marked as a draft.)

-snip-

minor problem arose. Bush administration negotiators and a bipartisan Senate group had been meeting several days a week since February, often with glacial progress. (McCain rarely attended, though his staff was there.) As of Thursday morning, however, agreement hadnt been reached. A final meeting started at 10 a.m. in hopes of finishing the deal. With a dozen Senators, two Cabinet members (Chertoff and Gutierrez) and perhaps 15 staffers in the room discussing an unpublished documents exceeding 300 pages in length, it was slow going. Senator Cornyn, tacitly supported by Sen. Jon Kyl, pushed hard to streamline legal procedures to allow prompt deportation of illegals. Senator Kennedy resisted.

-snip-As the clock moved closer to 1:30 p.m., Senator McCain suddenly lost it. "This is chicken****," he told Senator Cornyn. "I think it would expedite things if you would just leave the room, Senator, so we can get along with finishing this up." Senator Cornyn responded: "Wait a minute. Weve been meeting for three months on this in good faith, and now you parachute in here this morning and tell me to leave? I think youre out of line."

Senator McCain responded: "****you! I know what is going on here. I know more about immigration than anybody in this room!

Title change because of profanity. Read the whole article for more, including this snippet: "WHAT ABOUT THE SUBSTANCE of Senator Cornyns argument? It provides a revealing window into the process, and a lens for viewing the compromise on offer in the Senate bill.

I’ve mentioned about ten things about McCain recently that disqualify him from being president. But the most important reason is that he is a maniac. I would never trust him with his finger on the nuclear football.

This latest incident is absolutely typical. He simply cannot be trusted to control himself. He not only is the Manchurian Candidate, he is General Jack D. Ripper.

So the bill does NOT end catch-and-release because McCain was more worried about making the press conference than the substance of the bill?!?!?! Do I have that right? Oh yea, now there's the serious committed guy I want to see as president!

This hints at somethings that are never discussed. There must be armies of predators who live off of the misery of this broken immigration system. Lots of immmigration attorneys making a bundle off of people who care about the price of tortillas. The hearings and appeals can drag on for years. It is not really comprehensive immigration reform unless the fix the whole thing, and I see no evidence of that. Simple analyses that pit biz against Dem desire for voters misses the pressure of the lawyers and other activists.

11
posted on 05/20/2007 3:23:58 PM PDT
by ClaireSolt
(Have you have gotten mixed up in a mish-masher?)

“Why don’t you just leave the room?” Is that any way for an esteemed senator to speak to another esteemed senator? It sounds like it was McCain’s role to bulldoze Cornyn for Kennedy. I wish I were to learn what the payback might be for that bitch slapping.

I have to admit, this makes me feel really good. John McCain is unfit for the office of the presidency, and this just supports my opinion over the past eight years. I have avoided attacks on the candidates as much as possible, but McCain is truly an exception in his being out of touch with reality and with voters. No wonder the media would like to see him nominated to represent Republicans.

Is this McCain’s “Dean SCREAM” moment for his campaign; WE will see, but if it were up to me ALL the grass-roots, and activists, and Republicans, and conservative leaning people I know were told about this.. I don’t how McCain (Vain) intends to be POTUS when he can’t even be a gentleman in a debate/Senate Conference.. I will NOT ever vote for him, neither for Rudy Guiliani (though at least he’s honest about his views ;)), I can’t say the same for McCain, Romney, or some of the rest. McCain: You have dooped me for the last time!! (I now see how you work).

Senator McCain has been largely missing from the Senate since late March, when it became apparent his fundraising operation was seriously lagging. Senator McCain hasnt made a Senate vote in the past five weeks. But he wanted to be front and center when the immigration bargain was announced, and Kennedy and Specter did everything they could to accommodate him. They reserved the Senate press gallery room for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, just in time for Senator McCain to attend before heading out to New York for more fundraising.

Snip:

As the clock moved closer to 1:30 p.m., Senator McCain suddenly lost it. "This is chickenshit," he told Senator Cornyn. "I think it would expedite things if you would just leave the room, Senator, so we can get along with finishing this up." Senator Cornyn responded: "Wait a minute. Weve been meeting for three months on this in good faith, and now you parachute in here this morning and tell me to leave? I think youre out of line."

Senator McCain responded: "F*** you! I know what is going on here. I know more about immigration than anybody in this room! Other Senators moved in to calm things down, and the talks went on.

Snip:

At 1:30 p.m. sharp, the conferees (not including Senators Cornyn or Menendez and a few other negotiators) were in the press gallery, congratulating each other. Senator Kennedy recognized Senator McCain early to make his televised comments, then Senator McCain departed before the press conference was over for a flight to New York City. Later that afternoon, he missed yet another Senate vote - this one on the Democrats' $2.9 trillion budget plan, an outline for the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

31
posted on 05/20/2007 4:04:46 PM PDT
by Popman
(New American Dream: Move to Mexican, cross the border, become an illegal. free everything)

I just sent the following e-mail to each of my Tennessee Senators about Monday's proposed cloture vote on this abomination: Dear Senator Alexander:

Please vote to OPPOSE CLOTURE ON THE IMMIGRATION BILL, which is scheduled, according to Fox News, to be voted on tomorrow, Monday, May 21.

This horrible bill was agreed to, essentially in the dark of night, by administration representatives, a few "Republicans," and Teddy (The Hero of Chappaquiddick) Kennedy. It was done without any of the normal committee hearings, mark-ups, and Senate procedures, all of which are carefully designed to assure that vital legislation, like this, which will fundamentally effect the very nature of the United States for generations, will be fully and carefully considered by the Senate before it is sent to the House.

A cloture vote, which effectively ends any Senate debate, ought to be taken at the end of any debate, definitely NOT BEFORE THE SENATE HAS EVEN BEEN GIVEN GIVEN THE MINIMAL COURTESY OF GETTING A COMPLETE COPY OF THE BILL IT'S SUPPOSED TO VOTE ON, AND DEBATE THAT BILL.

Kennedy, the administration's persons, and its Senate sponsors are trying to railroad this abomination through the Senate because they KNOW IT CAN'T STAND PUBLIC DEBATE AND EXPOSURE.

That fact alone is why you MUST VOTE TO OPPOSE CLOTURE.

Sincerely yours,

Please feel free to use it with you SEnate critters as you deem appropriate.

"Democrats would love for this thing to get passed and create their new welfare state -- and then the anger in the country over it be directed at the Republicans. The key to this is, there's a Republican president that's going to sign it!"

The White House released a "Myth/Fact" document about the immigration bill last week. But instead of setting the record straight, it perpetuated more myths. What follows are 10 myths the White House is telling us about the amnesty agreement.

Powerline Paul Mirengoff

"Any Republican candidate who is on board with the projected deal should receive no consideration from conservatives as a presidential nominee."

Ive mentioned about ten things about McCain recently that disqualify him from being president. But the most important reason is that he is a maniac. I would never trust him with his finger on the nuclear football.

This latest incident is absolutely typical. He simply cannot be trusted to control himself. He not only is the Manchurian Candidate, he is General Jack D. Ripper.

McCain's obvious mental instability is more disqualifying than any other of the multiple, horrible, things he's done to this country and the Republican party. Indeed, it's absolutely disqualifying. We all must admit that the Witch, legitimately as we all loathe her, has a superb opposition research operation. It's simply inconceivable that, through her OR operation and purloined FBI files, she doesn't know vastly more than we do about McCain's mental instability, all of which is ready to be dumped into the ever-willing DBM the moment he (God forbid!) gets the pubbie nomination. After that, she or Obama would just walk into the White House with no effective opposition.

McCain is a very strange guy... You'd think he'd stay away from Kennedy's programs when he's running for President on the REPUBLICAN ticket...If he ends up running against Hillary, it will be a nightmare...The more I think about it, Hillary is probably going to be the next President, and Bill will be back in the White House.

He not only is the Manchurian Candidate, he is General Jack D. Ripper.

I've been calling him McCrazy for a long time. He does seem to have at least one screw loose.

You know, most of the Senators are lone wolves. Despite the public comraderie, they really don't play well with others. Sure there are friendships, but for the most part it's "every man for himself." So I've been told.

So when it comes to McCrazy I sometimes imagine him going back to his fortified office, with secret locks, sandbags at the windows, and perhaps some "self protection" secreted away in his closet.

But maybe he is closer to Gen. Ripper. What better stealth than to keep your machine gun in a golf bag?

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